Preliminary Guide to the McGregor Land and Livestock Company Records, 1962-1976

The grandsons of Scottish immigrants to Ontario, Canada in the 1840s, Peter and Archie McGregor moved to Washington Territory in the United States in 1882. Settling in the Palouse region of the Columbia Plateau, Peter and Archie began to operate a business in the open range sheep trade in the mid-1880s and owned 22,000 sheep by 1890. Peter and Archie were joined by brother John McGregor in 1886 and another brother, Alex McGregor, in 1900.

In 1905, the four McGregor brothers established the McGregor Land and Livestock Company. Through this corporation, the McGregors leased, cultivated, and pastured tens of thousands of acres of grazing land and created a general merchandising business through which they could buy and sell cattle, sheep, hogs, wheat, apples, and farm equipment. In 1908, the McGregors purchased the Bar U cattle ranch and created the Taylor Land and Livestock Company to manage it, and in 1917, they purchased the Palouse Irrigation and Power Company and incorporated it as the Hooper Realty Company. To house and supply employees, the McGregors bought up property in the town of Hooper, including a hotel, general store, blacksmith shop, and lumberyards.

In 1956, the McGregor Company was created as a separate company to operate the McGregor fertilizer and farm equipment ventures. As of 2018, the McGregor Company remains in operation and serves over 35 Pacific Northwest communities, with McGregor descendants serving as chairman and president of the company.

Source: McGregor Land and Livestock Company and McGregor Family Papers, 1886-1968 (Cage 902); Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections; Washington State University Libraries; Pullman, WA.